1) Start out by saying something that you know the other person will find insulting, offensive, or just plain outrageous. 2) Do whatever you want and ignore everyone else. 3) Try to get the mediator on your side. 4) Refuse to listen to the other person’s point of view…

In my last post, I described an improv theater game you can use to increase your team’s social sensitivity. Here’s way you can vary this game if you have one person who has a disproportionately negative effect on the team, to see how their actions alone can affect the entire team…

Have you ever been on a team that’s had problems getting along and working well together? Here are three secrets from a mediator, to surviving and thriving on self-organizing teams: 1) be patient, 2) accept ambiguity, 3) Solve interpersonal problems incrementally…

We’re living in a time of angry conversations, especially on social media. Especially if the topic is politics, conversations quickly degrade into insults, ad hominem attacks, and lordly assertions that “I’m done, have a nice day!” Here are five steps to having civil conversations…

I stopped a bully the other day. He was big, he was tall, and he was rude, and he was in the face of someone shorter and smaller. Even though I’m only average height and weight, I stopped that bully. You can stop bullies, too. You use what’s called “noncomplementary behavior.” You act like the bully isn’t there…

As a mediator, one of the things I tell my clients in preparation for the mediation is: at some point during the mediation, you may think you’re not progressing towards a resolution. This is normal. All it means is that you’re working hard to resolve the dispute. You may be talking about issues you haven’t talked about before, you may be…

1) Start out by saying something that you know the other person will find insulting, offensive, or just plain outrageous. 2) Do whatever you want and ignore everyone else. 3) Try to get the mediator on your side. 4) Refuse to listen to the other person’s point of view…